Drinking attachment for cups



(No Model.)

J. S. HOWARD. DRINKING ATTACHMENT FOR (JUPS, MUGs, m.

No. 478,861. Patented July 1 1892.

NITE STATES PATENT ".FFICE.

DRINKING ATTACHMENT FOR CUPS, MUGS, 84.0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 478,861, dated July-12, 1892.

Application filed April 13, 1891. Serial No. 388,746. 1 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, JAMES S. HOWARD, of New Bedford, in the county of Bristol, and in the State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drinking Attachments for Cups, Mugs, and other Drinking Vessels; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a view in side elevation of a cup with my drinking attachment applied thereto; Fig. 2, a perspective View of such attachment removed from the cup; Fig. 3, a view of the same in front elevation, showing the strainer removed; and Fig. 4, adetail view of the lower part of the tube perforated so as to form a strainer.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of the figures.

The object of my invention has been to provide a convenient portable drinking attachment for use with cups, mugs, and other drinking-vessels which shall be capable of being removably attached to the cup or other vessel and is so arranged as to make it unnecessary for the drinker to apply his lips to the cup or'vessel rim or to bring his mustache into position where it is likely to be reached and soiled by the liquid being drunk; and to this end my invention consists in the drinking attachment, as hereinafter specified.

In the drawings, A designates the body or main part of the device, consisting of a tube preferably but not necessarily made smaller at its lower than at its upper end and having its upper portion flattened, as shown, so that the lips can be most easily and comfortably applied thereto. On its lower end is a strainer a, which can be either in the form of a detachable piece with a perforated diaphragm adapted to be inserted in the mouth of the tube, as indicated in Fig. 3, or can be made by closing the tube end and perforating the tube-walls, as shown in Fig. 4, on the side which comes next the cup when the attachment is in use. The main and lower part of the tube is adapted to project well down into a cup or drinking-vessel, and preferably to lie close to the inner side thereof, while its enlarged and flattened upper portion is curved so as to project upward and outward over the cup or vessel rim. IVhile I have shown and described this tube as being provided with a strainer at or near its lower end, I do not intend to limit myself to such construction, but can, instead, leave such end open. For facilitating the cleaning of the device this latter arrangement is advantageous.

The form of the attachment in which the straining openings or perforations are made in the wall of the tube can be also best arranged for ready and thorough cleaning by providing the tubes lower end with a stopper, which, being shaped like the removable strainer heretofore described, will fit in and close said end.

In Fig. 3 I show in dotted lines the perforations in the tube-wall as they would be arranged when such a stopper is used.

The stopper itself is not shown, as it will be understood to be like the strainer in form and construction,withthe exception, of course, that its end is not perforated.

Attached to tube A is the spring-clip A, extending outward, so as to engage said rim and then downward into position to engage the outer side of the cup or vessel, as shown in the drawings, in which the cup 0, to which the attachment is applied, is represented as being of the form of an ordinary coifee or tea cup. To make the engagement of the clip with the cup or vessel side most steady and firm, the lower end of the clip is made quite broad and has portions of its sides or corners bent inward, as shown at a a, to form two projections to rest against the surface of the cup or vessel.

The extreme lower end of the clip is preferably bent outward, so as not to interfere in any way with the contact of the projections a a with the cup-surface and to facilitate the placing of the attachment on a cup or vessel.

With the construction of clip and tube as described I have found that my attachment will be securely and firmly held in place when applied to any cup or vessel, whatever the size or shape of the latter may be.

Any desired or suitable material may be used in making my device; but I prefer to make it all of metal. For the tubular part silver, white-metal, tin, or other metal plated, if

required, with nickel, silver, or gold can be used, while for the clip any spring material can be employed.

For ordinary use I make both tube and clip of sheet metal nickeled, the strainer, where the detachable form is used, being preferably of similar material. The tube itself can be in one piece drawn and shaped as shown and described, or it can be made of two pieces or halves properly fastened together,

My drinking attachment, as described, can be quite cheaply made, is convenient to carry, easy to keep clean, and capable of being applied to any form of cup, mug, or drinkingvessel.

To persons having inustaches which they wish to keep out of the liquid being drunk or those desirous of avoiding the soiling of the lips by such liquid, the attachment is a great convenience, while to travelers and others .who are likely to be where they cannot be at all sure that the edges or rims of the cups, mugs, or other drinking-vessels which they must use have been thoroughly cleaned after previous use by other persons a device like mine, rendering it unnecessary to apply the lips to the cup orvessel,is for obvious reasons a source of comfort and often the means of preventing the contractingof contagious diseases.

llaving thus described my invention, what I claim is As an article of manufacture, a drinking attachment for use with drinking-vessels, consisting of a curved tube to project down into the vessel and engage its inner face, and a sprii'lg-clip attached to the tube, extending outward and then downward therefrom and having on opposite sides of its lower outward portion the two inwardly-turned lips projecting in beyond the body of the clip so as to engage the exterior of the drinking-vessel attwo points on opposite sides of a longitudinal plane through the tube and below the edge of the vessel, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing l have hereunto set my hand this 9th day of April, 1801.

JAMES lIOlVARl).

Witnesses:

PHILIP G. RUSSELL, E. G. \VIIITE. 

